Recto: 7.5-M Pinoys without birth certificates to benefit from Nat’l ID Law

The national identification (ID) program will address the problem of about 7.5 million Filipinos “without birth certificates,” Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said on Tuesday.

President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday signed into law Republic Act 11055 or the Philippine Identification System Act which will cost the government P25 billion, spread out over five years.

While the law states that the birth certificate is the basic documentary requirement for registration, this clause was inserted in cognizance of the reality that millions of Filipinos have no birth certificates, Recto said.

“That should be one of the outcomes of the project. Pwedeng tingnan ito na isa sa mga bonus ng proyekto,” Recto said.

“If there will be a mass list-up and registration, then perhaps we can use this activity to end the plight of those without birth certificates,” he said.

Recto added, “What I’m saying is that we should use the national ID platform as an opportunity to solve the quandary of those who do not have birth documents.

Recto said an individual without or who cannot present a birth certificate can still register for a national ID by presenting “alternative or additional documents to prove his or her identity.”

For 2018, the national ID project has a budget of P2 billlion, lodged with the lead implementer, the Philippine Statistical Authority (PSA).

It is estimated that 20 to 25 million Filipinos will register every year for five years, or about 60,000 a day, in data capture centers by at least eight government offices.

These are PSA regional and provincial offices, Local Civil Registry Offices, and offices of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), Social Security System (SSS), PhilHealth, PagIBIG Fund, Commission on Elections (Comelec), and PhilPost.

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